The Law Center and its client, Friends of Santa Fe County, are monitoring the reclamation of the LAC gold mine to ensure that the site is reclaimed. Under a negotiated settlement, LAC Minerals was required to clean up a plume of groundwater contaminated with nitrates and cyanide (used in the heap-leach method of gold mining). It continues to reclaim the ecosystem and remediate contamination at the site.

Also under the settlement, 1,350 acres of the mine were donated to the Santa Fe Botanical Garden for the Ortiz Mountain Educational Preserve.

NMELC IN THE PRESS

Santolina opponents file lawsuit against zoning change decision

The lawsuit was filed by Meiklejohn in the New Mexico Second Judicial District Court on behalf of the SouthWest Organizing Project, the New Mexico Health Equity Working Group, the Pajarito Village Association, and three individuals. Those that filed the lawsuit argue the two commissioners had already made up their minds on approving Santolina before a vote, which they say violated the county’s due process requirements. Albuquerque Business First

Next obstacle for Santolina: Court

While the Bernalillo County Commission recently approved three large measures advancing the Santolina planned development, opponents aren’t giving up…During hearings before the votes, attorney Douglas Meiklejohn asked De La Cruz and Johnson to recuse themselves for these reasons. Yet both refused to do so, arguing that they were voting in a legislative matter which allowed them to express opinions about it. County attorneys also made similar arguments. New Mexico Political Report

PRESS RELEASES

NM Supreme Court to Review Copper Rule

“Our clients are not trying to stop copper mining; they are trying to ensure that copper mining does not pollute ground water.”Douglas Meiklejohn, NMELC Executive Director

SANTA FE, N.M.— The New Mexico Supreme Court has granted the petition filed by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) requesting review of the Copper Rule, which regulates discharges from copper mines in New Mexico. The Supreme Court order, dated July 13th, states that it will review all the issues raised in the petition.

Advocates Get Chance to Shine Light on Racism in South Valley

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Last week, the Albuquerque Air Quality Control Board rejected a motion from the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department (EHD) for summary judgment on an air permit retroactively granted to a gasoline distribution depot. The Honstein Oil Co. fuel depot had been operating in the San Jose neighborhood for decades without an air permit. EHD urged the Board to decide the community members’ appeal of the air permit in a “paper trial,” rather than allowing the community to present evidence about the health impacts of air pollution from Honstein’s operation and other air pollution sources. (visit case page)